€1.2M paid in speeding fines in Cavan/Monaghan

Some €1.2M in speeding fines were generated by Garda speed van operators in Cavan and Monaghan over a 30-month period.

The figures were released by Ireland South MEP Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, who is calling for a get-tough approach to those caught speeding excessively on rural roads.

They came as An Garda Síochána concluded a 24-hour nationwide speed enforcement operation on Monday, September 1, 2025, as part of National Slow Down Day, in partnership with the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

The initiative coincided with the first full week of schools reopening across the country.

Garda members, along with GoSafe Mobile and Static Safety Cameras, detected a total of 569 vehicles travelling in excess of the applicable speed limit. Among the examples, a motorist was clocked travelling at 83km/h in a 50 zone on the R188 in Drumbear, Co Monaghan.

According to Ní Mhurchu’s figures, Cavan and Monaghan featured in the top ten garda districts in terms of more than €32M in speeding fines collected nationally between January 2023, and June 8, 2025.

The MEP has called for a greater concentration of speed vans at accident black spots and on rural roads where speeding is dramatically impacting on road safety.

The EU Transport Committee MEP questioned why revenue from speed vans across all garda districts fell by 15.9% between 2023 and 2024.

The Garda figures released to Ní Mhurchu also show that gardaí paid out over €44M to private speed camera operators between the start of 2023 and up to August 18, 2025, meaning that the Garda speed van system is operating at an overall loss.

According to Ní Mhurchú, speeding caused the deaths of 52 Irish people in 2024.

She points to a European Commission report from 2020, which estimated that 30% of all fatal crashes are the direct result of speeding or inappropriate speed.

“There are 52 families across the country mourning loved ones because we have failed to tackle speeding in any meaningful way,” she said.

Ní Mhurchú welcomed an extra €9M in funding for up to 100 new speed cameras to enhance road safety at the end of 2024 but said that continual investment in new technology is needed to catch those who are flouting the law.

She has also called for consideration of re-education courses as a judicial sanction for drivers who are repeatedly caught speeding.